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The Toronto Maple Leafs gathered for the first time in over a week following the NHL All-Star break and their bye week and will get back into action against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesar’s Arena on Friday with newest addition Jake Muzzin will make his debut in Blue and White.
The big blueliner skated on the left side with new defense partner Morgan Rielly for the first time on Thursday and is hoping to develop some chemistry and familiarity with his teammates in short order.
“I’m going to have to see how it goes. When you put a bunch of good players together, usually we can pick it up real quick.… Muzzin said. “I talked to (Mike Babcock) and (DJ Smith) a little bit, just going over what they’re thinking of what they want from me.…
Leafs D pairs at practice
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) January 31, 2019
Muzzin-Rielly
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Dermott-Hainsey
Marincin-Ozhiganov pic.twitter.com/IiJ7YEOsKo
In spite of the assumption that Muzzin would play on his off side, Babcock chose to move the left-handed Rielly to the right side, where he played at times early in his NHL career.
The Leafs head coach will see how things fit with his new addition, and initially will keep Jake Gardiner with regular partner Nikita Zaitsev and shift veteran Ron Hainsey to a new partner in sophomore Travis Dermott.
The Leafs currently have nine defensemen, but do not have to make any moves since they are carrying only 12 forwards on their 23-man roster. With Igor Ozhiganov losing his spot to Muzzin, Toronto will be playing five left handed blueliners, something that Babcock said was not an ideal situation, but one that he could work through.
“I was watching Pittsburgh last night and they had (Kris) Letang and the five left shots. The bottom line, the way the game is played, it’s way tighter (and) it’s way harder. You can’t go rink wide on the backhand.… Babcock said. “(Having mostly lefties) is not perfect, it’s what we’ve got, it’s what was available and we’ll make it work.…
Winger Andreas Johnsson, who missed the 6-3 victory over Washington with a concussion, skated on the fourth line with Par Lindholm and Frederik Gauthier.
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On Dubas, Muzzin, Nylander, possible deals ahead and more...
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